LIBRARY 

OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


GIFT  OK 


Accession        988.27  Class 


if  i  *. 


President  Benjamin  Ide  Wheeler. 


From    the    painting   by    Orrin   Peck 


t_»r    i  nt 


Vol.xxxix 


Overteoxd  /loathly 

n*y,    1902.    7 


UNIVERSITY 

OF 

sggUFOgj^ 

Mo  5. 


The   True    History   of  the   Founding  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  California 


BY    SAMUEL    L.    LUPTON 


^     7  ACTS    of   history    sometimes    grow 

=4  dim  in  the  past,  the  memories  of 
men  fail,  and  when  the  living 
witnesses  pass  away  it  is  not  al- 
ways an  easy  task  to  rescue  the  truth 
frodfifceblivion.  The  University  of  Cali- 
fornia has  now  been  in  existence  for  the 
period  of  time  usually  allotted  as  the 
duration  of  one  generation,  and  the  men 
who  brought  it  into  existence  have  nearly 
all  passed  away.  It  seems  to  me  the 
true  history  of  its  foundation  should  oe 
recorded,  while  there  are  yet  some  living 
witnesses. 

On  July  2,  1862,  Congress  passed  an  act 
under  which  this  State  became  entitled 
tc  150,000  acres  of  public  land  for  main- 
taining an  agricultural  and  mechanical 
arts  college. 

When  the  legislature  met  in  December, 
1865,  the  State  was  but  fifteen  years  old. 
At  this  session  William  Holden,  a  lawyer 
from  Ukiah,  represented  Mendocino 
County  as  an  Assemblyman.  Notwith- 
standing the  burdens  of  the  people  of  the 
State  had  been  great  and  taxation  heavy, 
Mr.  Holden  was  in  favor  of  accepting  the 
grant  of  the  Government  and  establish- 
ing and  providing  support  for  a  State 
College,  and  he  proposed,  in  making  the 
effort  to  carry  out  this  purpose,  to  have 
the  institution  located,  if  possible,  in  his 
part  of  the  State. 

We  therefore  find  on  page  135  of  tne 
Journal  of  the  Assembly  at  that  session, 
under  the  head  of  introduction  of  bills, 
this  entry,  "By  M'r.  Holden,  for  an  act  to 
establish  an  Agricultural  and  Mechanical 
Arts  College  in  Sonoma  County.  Read 
first  and  second  times,  referred  to  a  se- 
lect committee  of  five,  and  the  usual 
number  of  copies  ordered  printed." 


On  page  138  of  the  same  journal,  we 
find,  "The  speaker  announced  the  fol- 
lowing special  committee  on  agricutural 
college,  Messrs.  Holden,  Hunt  of  Santa 
Clara,  Reed,  Smith  of  Eldorado,  and 
Meredith." 

The  Reed  here  mentioned  was  Charles 
F.  Reed,  assemblyman  from  Yolo  County, 
and  who  was  at  the  time  the  president  of 
the  State  Agricultural  Society,  and  the 
Hunt,  assemblyman  from  Santa  Clara 
County,  was  A.  B.  Hunt,  a  lawyer,  and 
now  registrar  of  the  United  States  Land 
Office  in  San  Francisco. 

On  page  271  of  the  same  journal,  a 
clerk  was  allowed  the  committee,  on 
motion  of  Mr.  Holden,  for  one  week. 

The  special  committee  appointed  on 
Mr.  Holden's  Bill  was  in  favor  of  the 
purpose  of  the  bill,  but  not  in  favor  of 
fixing  the  location  in  Sonoma  County, 
and  favored  the  changing  of  the  title  and 
purpose  of  the  bill  to  "An  Act  to  Estab- 
lish an  Agricultural,  Mining  and  Mechan- 
ical Arts  College."  The  committee  there- 
fore adopted  a  substitute  to  the  original 
bill  so  as  to  put  the  three  leading  indus- 
tries of  the  State  upon  an  equal  footing. 

Accordingly  on  page  372  of  the  same 
journal,  we  find  this  entry,  "Mr.  Holden 
made  the  following  report,  'Mr.  Speaker: 
The  special  committee  to  whom  was  re- 
ferred Assembly  bill  No.  49,  an  act  to 
establish  an  agricultural  and  mechanical 
arts  college  in  Sonoma  County,  have  had 
the  same  under  consideration  and  report 
if  back  to  the  Assembly  with  a  substitute 
therefor,  and  recommend  the  adoption  of 
the  substitute. 

Holden,  for  committee.' 

"On  motion  of  Mr.  Holden  the  usual 
number  of  copies  of  the  substitute  above 


834 


Overland    Monthly. 


Bridge  and  walk  made  by  students  in   1896. 


reported  was  ordered  printed." 

This  substitute  was  passed  by  the  legis- 
lature and  became  a  law  M'arch  31,  1866. 

On  page  702,  same  journal,  we  find, 
Mr.  Holden  introduced,  "An  act  to  pro- 
vide for  the  selection  of  the  lands  do- 
nated to  the  State  of  California  by  the 
Act  of  Congress,  approved  July  2,  1862, 
for  the  endowment  of  colleges  for  the 
benefit  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic 
arts,  and  all  lands  that  may  be  granted 
to  the  State  for  like  purposes,"  which  act 
became  a  law  April  2,  1866. 

On  page  770,  same  journal,  we  find  Mr. 
Holden  offered  a  joint  resolution  for  the 
meeting  of  the  Senate  and  Assembly  in 
joint  convention  for  the  purpose  of  elect- 
ing five  directors  for  the  new  college, 
which  joint  resolution  was  adopted. 

The  joint  convention  was  held,  and 
Messrs.  Joseph  B.  Meader,  Henry  Phil- 
lips, Felix  Tracy,  William  Holden  and 
C.  F.  Ryland  were  elected  directors,  (see 
Assembly  journal  pages  803,  806,  809), 
to  act  in  conjunction  with  the  three  ex- 
officio  members,  who  were  the  Governor 


of  the  State,  F.  F.  Low;  the  president  of 
the  State  Agricultural  Society,  Charles 
F.  Reed;  and  the  president  of  the  M'e- 
chanics'  Institute  of  San  Francisco,  who 
was  at  the  time,  I  believe,  A.  S.  Hallidie, 
the  inventor  of  the  cable  street-car  sys- 
tem. 

Thus  the  organization  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  State  College  was  put  in 
motion,  and  William  Holden  was  all 
through  the  proceedings  leading  up  there- 
to the  moving  active  agent  thereof. 

When  the  State  once  resolved  and  un- 
dertook to  establish  a  State  college,  "a 
high  seminary  of  learning,  in  which  the 
graduates  of  the  common  schools  can 
commence,  pursue  and  finish  a  course  of 
study,  etc.,"  its  character  and  usefulness 
in  the  future  was  necessarily  but  a  mat- 
ter of  evolution  and  development.  The 
title  by  which  this  institution  was  named 
was  the  one  used  in  the  act  of  Congress 
making  the  grant  of  land  with  the  de- 
partment of  ^mining  added.  The  word 
college  was 'used  therefore  instead  of 
university,  although  the  latter  was  used 


Founding  of  the   University  of  California. 


835 


in  article  IX  of  the  first  State  constitu- 
tion, wherein  it  was  provided  that  all 
grants  of  land  made  by  the  general  gov- 
ernment, or  others,  in  the  past,  the  pres- 
ent or  in  the  future,  should  be  carefully 
protected,  and  the  fund  accruing  from  the 
rents  or  sale  of  such  lands,  or  from  any 
other  source,  shall  be  a  permanent  fund 
for  the  support  of  a  university,  (that  is 
when  the  fund  got  to  be  large  enough  to 
establish  a  university),  "for  the  promo- 
tion of  literature,  the  arts  and  sciences." 

In  the  memorial  of  the  State  Constitu- 
tional Convention  to  Congress  asking  for 
the  admission  of  the  State,  on  motion  of 
William  M.  Gwinn,  who  was  afterwards 
for  twelve  years  United  States  Senator 
from  this  State,  and  the  most  influential 
representative  the  State  has  ever  had 
at  the  National  Capital,  a  grant  was 
asked  of  public  lands  for  the  founding  of 
a  university.  There  were,  however,  at 
that  time  not  people  enough  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  to  support  a  university. 

The  word  university  was  not  used  as 
advisedly  in  those  days  as  now.  It  was 
then  often  used  to  mean  simply  a  higher 
class  of  college.  Practically  universities 
did  not  exist  in  the  United  States  in 
those  days.  Even  Harvard  and  Yale  were 
then  commonly  known  as  colleges  instead 
of  universities  by  name.  The  so-called 
universities  at  that  time  in  the  United 
States  were  generally  such  only  in  name, 
and  were  institutions  of  comparatively 
minor  educational  importance  and  stand- 
ing. 

When  this  Agricultural  College  bill  had 
become  a  law,  the  directors  met,  organ- 
ized and  elected  Governor  Low  President 
of  the  Board.  They  then  selected  a  site 
for  the  State  College,  which  was  located 
about  a  mile  north  of  the  present  site  of 
the  university. 

Prior  to  this  time  there  had  been  sev- 
eral colleges  established  in  the  State.  In 
1851,  the  Methodists  had  established  a 
college  at  Santa  Clara  and  which  is  now 
known  as  the  University  of  the  Pacific. 
Very  early  in  the  fifties  the  Catholics 
had  also  established  a  college  at  Santa 
Clara,  now  known  as  Santa  Clara  College. 
These  colleges  have  graduated  many 
students. 

Another  college  known  as  the  College 


of  California  principally  under  Presbyter- 
ian and  Congregational  influences,  had 
been  established  about  1860,  and  it 
was  located  in  Oakland.  This  college 
was  the  outgrowth  of  a  classical  school 
or  seminary  established  by  Doctor  Dur- 
ant.  It  had  no  president  but  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Willey,  the  vice-president,  acted  as 
such.  Having  the  advantage  of  location, 
being  near  the  leading  commercial  city, 
San  Francisco,  and  the  then  center  of  the 
State  and  convenient  to  its  controlling 
influences,  a  strong  effort  was  made  by 
its  several  professors  to  bring  to  its  sup- 
port the  men  of  education  and  the  poss- 
essors of  wealth.  A  list  was  made  of  all 
the  known  graduates  of  colleges  of  the 
United  States  residing  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  bay.  Invitations  were  sent  to  them 
to  attend  the  commencement  exercises  of 
the  college,  and  their  aid  and  interest 
sought  in  all  available  directions.  The 
institution,  however,  was  sorely  pressed 
for  means,  and  placed  its  hope  for  future 
development  and  strength  upon  the  sup- 
port of  the  influences  above  mentioned 
which  it  sought  to  draw  around  it.  It  had, 
however,  obtained  title  to  160  acres  of 
land  where  the  university  now  stands, 
and  which  had  at  the  instance  of  Freder- 
ick Billings  been  named  Berkeley.  This 
college  was  in  existence  for  five  or  six 
years  and  graduated  about  twenty  stu- 
dents during  that  time. 

The  passage  of  the  bill  to  establish  the 
State  Agricultural  College,  and  its  pro- 
posed location  near  Oakland,  was  to 
this  college  of  California  as  the  hand- 
writing on  the  wall.  Its  friends  knew 
that  the  influences  on  which  it  must  de- 
pend for  prosperity  and  support  would 
gather  around  the  State  institution,  and 
that  their  college  could  not  for  want  of 
support  exist  with  the  State  College  in  its 
immediate  neighborhood. 

The  proposal  to  establish  this  new 
agricultural  and  mining  college  met  with 
such  universal  support  and  encourage- 
ment from  the  men  of  education  in  the 
State  and  the  tax-payers  that  its  future 
was  assured.  Those  having  charge  of  the 
College  of  California  saw  this.  They 
could  not  absorb  or  unite  the  new  col- 
leges with  theirs,  for  the  act  of  the  legis- 
lature expressly  prohibited  its  being 


836 


Overland  Monthly. 


united  or  connected  with  any  other  in- 
stitution of  learning  in  the  State,  and 
also  from  in  any  manner  whatever  being 
connected  with  or  controlled  by  any  sec- 
tarian denomination,  while  the  College 
of  California  was  at  least  a  semi-Presby- 
terian and  Congregational  institution. 

Such  being  the  state  of  affairs  with  the 
College  of  California,  those  who  con- 
trolled its  affairs  concluded  that  they 
might  as  well  join  in  with  the  friends  and 
supporters  of  the  new  college  and  help 
it  along  for  the  general  benefit  of  the 
State.  They  therefore  consulted  with 
the  friends  and  directors  of  the  new 
State  institution  in  regard  to  its  future. 
As  they  had  resolved  to  quit  business 
and  disincorporate,  they  agreed  to  turn 
over  to  the  directors  of  the  State  College 
the  160  acres  of  land  where  the  State 
University  now  stands,  so  that  the  loca- 
tion selected  by  the  directors  of  the 
State  College  could  be  relinquished.  This 
proposition  was  accepted.  They  also 
asked  that  the  law  be  so  extended  that 
distinct  provision  should  therein  be  made 
for  a  classical  department  for  the  new 
institution,  as  well  as  the  departments  for 
instruction  in  agriculture,  mining  and  the 
mechanical  arts,  and  for  future  exten- 
sions or  affiliated  colleges. 

These  suggestions  all  coincided  with 
the  views  of  the  directors  and  friends  of 
the  new  institution,  and  all  agreed  that 
the  title  of  the  new  institution  was  cum- 
bersome and  inconvenient  for  use.  It 
was  therefore  fully  agreed  by  all  con- 
cerned that  the  title  of  "University  of 
California"  should  be  adopted.  It  was 
also  deemed  wise  to  change  the  method 
of  selecting  directors  and  their  number. 
These  matters  being  fully  agreed  upon 
the  trustees  of  the  college  of  California 
stipulated  to  turn  over  to  the  State  insti- 
tution whatever  assets  it  might  be  pos- 
sessed of. 

A  bill  by  consent  of  all  parties  having 
interest  therein  was  drawn  embodying 
these  proposals  and  agreements,  and  was 
introduced  into  the  legislature  at  its  next 
session  by  John  W.  Dwinelle,  a  prom- 
inent member  of  the  San  Francisco  bar, 
and  a  graduate  of  Hamilton  College,  and 
who  was  at  the  time  a  resident  of  Oak- 
land, and  a  member  of  the  Assembly  from 


Alameda  County.  Of  course  this  bill 
being  intended  to  supersede  the  old  law, 
as  it  did,  was  carefully  drawn,  though 
since  many  times  added  to  and  amended, 
and  was  designed  to  cure  what  crudities 
or  imperfections  existed  in  the  original 
law.  It  was  the  result  of  two  years'  ex- 
perience and  reflection  of  the  directors 
and  friends  of  the  new  State  college.  It 
became  a  law  March  23,  1868.  When  it 
passed  the  legislature,  William  Holden, 
who  had  been  in  the  mean  time  elected 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  State,  and 
acted  as  president  of  the  State  Senate, 
advocated  the  passage  of  the  bill.  It  sub- 
stituted the  more  mature  and  perfected 
new  law  for  the  old  one,  and  repealed  the 
old  one.  If,  however,  the  Holden  bill  had 
not  been  a  law,  the  new  bill  introduced 
by  Mr.  Dwinelle  and  which  became  the 
substituted  law,  would  never  have  had 
an  existence. 

I  think  these  facts  show  that  William 
Holden  was  the  father  of  the  University 
of  California. 

I  was  not  uninformed  about  college 
matters  in  this  State  at  that  time,  for  a 
fellow  college  student,  my  senior  in  age 
and  in  classes,  became  in  the  early  fifties  ./-~^- 
one  of  the  Professors  of  the  University 
of  the  Pacific  at  Santa  Clara,  and  re- 
mained with  that  institution  for  a  number 
of  years;  while  a  college  classmate  of 
mine  was  the  instructor  in  mathematics 
in  the  college  of  California  at  the  time 
the  agricultural  bill  became  a  law.  In 
Rev.  Dr.  Willey's  history  of  the  College 
of  California  will  be  found  a  list  of  the 
known  college  graduates  residing  in  t  is 
vicinity  at  this  time  and  whose  interest 
and  influences  were  sought  in  behalf  of 
the  welfare  of  that  college.  My  name  ap- 
pears in  that  list. 

When  the  Holden  bill  was  passed  es- 
tablishing the  agricultural  and  mining 
college,  and  the  Dwinelle  bill  was  passed 
as  an  amendment  or  substitute  therefor, 
I  was  at  both  sessions  a  member  of  the 
Assembly  from  San  Francisco,  being 
at  that  time  elected  by  the  city  at  large. 
I  voted  for  and  actively  interested  my- 
self in  the  passage  of  both  laws.  I  felt 
so  much  interest  in  the  matter  that, 
when  the  Holden  bill  was  passed,  I  wrote 
an  article  calling  public  attention  to  the 


Under   the    laurels. 


838 


Overland   Monthly. 


law,  and  urging  encouragement  and  sup- 
port to  the  new  institution.  It  was  pub- 
lished as  an  editorial  in  the  Evening 
Examiner,  October  23,  1866. 

The  writing  of  this  present  article  has 
been  incited  by  the  fact  that  the  only 
formal  history  of  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia published  that  I  know  of,  and 
which  seems  to  have  the  endorsement  of 
that  institution,  intimates  strongly  that 
the  reason  the  university  was  not  found- 
ed earlier  was  because  the  people  of  the 
State  were  ignorant,  and  had  to  be  edu- 
cated up  to  the  point  of  realizing  the 
necessity  and  advantages  of  such  an  in- 
stitution. It  even  intimates  that  the 
legislature  was  occupied  in  passing  bills 
for  the  establishment  of  prisons  and  that 
the  one  that  passed  the  Holden  bill,  was 
too  ignorant  to  know  enough  to  pass  a 
bill  establishing  a  State  university  at 
once.  The  exact  language  being,  "Thus, 
in  their  blindness,  did  the  legislators  of 
1866,  seek  to  defeat  the  predestined  or- 
ganization of  the  university,"  thus  at- 
tacking the  real  founders  of  that  in- 
stitution. As  inducing  causes  to  the 
establishment  of  the  university,  it  re- 
cites vain  acts  of  individuals  of  more  or 
less  erratic  character,  but  whose  efforts 
were  devoid  of  effect  or  influence.  It 
also  gives  great  credit  to  persons  who 
delivered  speeches  on  occasions  such  as 
college  commencements,  in  which  the 
establishment  of  a  university  in  the 
future  was  predicted,  just  as  a  fourth 
of  July  orator  would  predict  the  ad- 
vancement, growth  and  glory  of  our  re- 
public in  the  future,  drawing  vividly  on 
his  imagination,  regardless  of  fact  or 
conditions,  and  had  about  as  much  in- 
fluence in  one  case  as  in  the  other.  The 
first  thirty  or  forty  pages  of  that  history 
I  believe  to  be  untruthful  in  theory  and 
fact.  It  assumes  facts  -and  gives  credit 
where  such  does  not  belong,  and  with- 
holds or  suppresses  credit  from  those 
to  whom  it  belongs  in  connection  with 
the  foundation  of  the  State  College  or 
university,  and  its  intimations  in  some 
instances  are  wholly  without  just  foun- 
dation. I  believe  it  is  due  to  the  people 
of  the  State  and  to  the  character  of  the 
university  that  that  part  of  the  history 
should  be  rewritten. 


The  extraordinary  circumstances 
under  which  California  became  a  part 
of  the  United  States,  and  was  rapidly 
settled  and  became  a  State  of  the  Union 
and  has  grown  into  a  great  common- 
wealth, -  passed  so  rapidly  into  history 
and  under  such  uncommon  and  excep- 
tional circumstances  that  it  seems  often 
difficult  for  the  generation  of  to-day  to 
comprehend  fully  the  changes  that  have 
occurred,  the  growth  that  has  been  ma  'e, 
or  the  circumstances  under  which  events 
took  place  or  the  trials  and  difficulties 
encountered  by  the  early  residents,  not 
to  say  pioneers. 

When  the  United  States  forces  took 
possession  of  California  in  1846,  there 
were  in  this  great  State,  which  is  seven 
hundred  miles  long  and  from  two  to 
three  hundred  miles  wide,  only  about 
5000  white  inhabitants,  with  perhaps  ten 
thousand  so-called  domesticated  Indians, 
the  wild  Indians  being  unestimated. 
These  few  people  were  scattered  over 
the  surface  of  this  great  State.  Yerba 
Buena  of  which  the  great  commercial 
city  of  San  Francisco  is  the  successor, 
had  at  the  time  about  300  inhabitants, 
while  cities  like  Sacramento,  Stockton, 
and  Oakland  had  none  or  only  a  nominal 
existence. 

In  1850,  when  California  was  admitted 
as  one  of  the  States  of  the  Union,  its 
entire  population  was  92,597. 

The  character  of  this  population  and 
that  of  a  few  years  after  that  date  and 
its  burdens,  seem  nowadays  not  gener- 
ally understood. 

The  civilized  world  was  electrified  by 
the  stories  of  the  discovery  of  gold  in 
1848,  and  when  the  truth  concerning  the 
existence  of  gold  became  generally 
known  intelligent,  enterprising  men  of 
every  State  in  the  Union  and  every  civ- 
ilized and  semi-civilized  country  in  txie 
world,  began  to  wend  their  way  to  this 
State.  It  was  as  if  the  unfixed,  un- 
anchored  possessors  of  energy  and  in- 
telligence in  the  world  bent  their  way  to 
California.  They  came  by  steamers  or 
sailing  vessels  around  Cape  Horn,  or 
from  south  of  the  equator,  across  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama,  or  from  the  distant 
Orient,  while  others  sought  to  reach  the 
same  destination  by  traveling  thousands 


Founding  of  the  University  of  California. 


839 


of  miles  across  the  uninhabited,  trackless 
and  unknown  plains  and  deserts,  and 
over  the  Rocky  and  Sierra  Nevada 
Mountains,  in  those  days  thought  to  be 
a  trip  to  be  undertaken  only  by  the  most 
hardy  and  venturesome,  while  fierce  In- 
dians and  dangerous  wild  beasts  were 
likely  to  be  encountered  at  any  hour  of 
night  or  day. 

Some  of  these  people  came  with  their 
families,  others  came  to  repair  or  make 
their  fortunes  and  then  return  there- 
with to  their  homes.  Many  came  and 
many  after  a  short  stay  returned,  some 
with  fortunes,  others  without.  But 
others,  attracted  by  the  climate  and 
business  opportunities,  and  who  saw  a 
great  future  for  the  State  and  city,  re- 
mained here  to  make  their  future  homes. 

The  enterprise  which  these  people  dis- 
played was  extraordinary,  the  endurance 
heroic,  with  hope  ever  undismayed,  one 
failure  resulting  usually  but  in  another 
effort.  Intelligence  of  the  highest  order 
dominated  these  people.  All  through 
the  Placer  mines,  and  in  every  branch 


of  business  were  found  educated  and  ex- 
perienced merchants,  lawyers,  doctors, 
and  all  kinds  of  professional  or  semi-pro- 
fessional and  educated  men.  While  the 
mechanics  and  common  laborers  were 
of  the  highest  intelligence  and  energy  of 
their  class.  The  trip  across  the  plains 
or  a  long  distance  by  sea  to  reach  this 
State  required  large  sums  of  money  for 
an  outfit  and  for  cost  of  passage,  and  tne 
people  generally  who  in  those  days  could 
command  such  sums  were  people  of 
energy,  enterprise,  and  character. 

Of  course  there  were  some  others. 
There  are  in  all  communities.  But  there 
never  has  been  a  day  in  the  history  of 
the  State  of  California  that  the  large 
majority  of  the  people  of  our  city  and 
State  was  not  peaceable,  orderly,  and 
law-abiding,  and  of  the  better  class  of 
citizens.  The  other  elements  that  came 
tc  the  surface  like  the  froth  of  the  r.ea 
were,  when  deemed  necessary,  severely 
dealt  with,  and  human  life  and  property 
in  the  early  fifties  and  later  on  was,  gen- 
erally speaking,  as  safe  throughout  this 


A  glimpse  of  the   University  campus. 


Founding  of  the   University  of  California. 


841 


city  and  State  as  it  is  to-day.  Consid- 
ering the  fact  that  many  thousands  of 
people  from  all  parts  of  the  Union,  and 
in  fact  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  were 
suddenly  thrown  together  in  quest  of 
gold  and  fortunes,  the  record  is  aston- 
ishingly creditable.  The  world's  his- 
tory had  never  recorded  like  circum- 
stances. 

No  ordinary  men  laid  the  foundations 
of  this  city  and  State.  Many  of  them 
had  held  high  positions  in  their  former 
homes,  and  many  in  after  years  became 
distinguished  or  wealthy  men  in  all  the 
States  of  the  Union,  as  well  as  here  in 
our  own  midst.  Many  officers  of  tne 
army  and  navy  became  citizens,  and 
when  the  Civil  War  broke  out  this  State 
contributed  from  among  its  then  or  for- 
mer residents  such  men  as  Halleck, 
Sherman,  Hooker,  Geary,  Grant,  McPher- 
son,  Baker,  Stone,  Fremont,  Hancock, 
Naglee,  Dent,  Sheridan,  Ord,  Lippitt,  and 
others,  and  to  the  navy  Farragut,  and  to 
the  Confederate  side  Albert  Sidney  John- 
son. All  of  these  men  had  relations 
with  the  people  and  their  affairs,  and 
had  influence  in  the  community.  Many  ed- 
ucated, energetic  and  ambitious  young 
men  who  had  just  started  in  life,  or  who 
had  just  completed  their  college  course, 
were  here  and  gave  their  best  energies 
and  efforts  to  the  building  up  of  these 
communities. 

At  the  time  the  Civil  War  had  com- 
menced, it  has  often  been  said  and  among 
the  older  residents  thoroughly  believed, 
that  no  city  of  the  same  size  as  San 
Francisco  could  have  in  all  respects  pro- 
duced a  people,  in  proportion  to  popula- 
tion, the  superior  of  those  to  be  found 
then  in  our  city.  The  Civil  War,  how- 
ever, and  the  discovery  of  the  Bonanza 
and  Constock  mines  and  the  completion 
of  the  overland  railroad  produced  great 
changes  in  our  population. 

From  1856,  for  ten  or  twelve  years 
after  the  Act  consolidating  the  City  and 
•County  of  San  Francisco  went  into  oper- 
ation, this  city  had  no  superior  as  to 
government  in  the  world.  The  public 
officers  were  thoroughly  honest,  thor- 
oughly capable,  intelligent  in  the  per- 
formance of  all  their  duties,  and  gentle- 
manly to  all  who  had  personal  or  busi- 
.53 


ness   intercourse   with   them. 

The  extent  of  the  burdens  these  peo- 
ple had  to  bear  in  building  up  a  great 
State  from  the  very  foundation,  as  from 
the  naked  earth,  is  not  always  remem- 
bered. 

These  92,597  people,  constituting  the 
population  of  the  State  at  the  time  of  its 
admission  into  the  Union,  and  their  suc- 
cessors, were  compelled  to  build  a  State 
house  and  State  prisons,  insane  asylums, 
County  Court  houses  and  jails,  hospitals, 
wagon,  and  stage  roads  and  bridges, 
trails  across  the  mountains,  school 
houses  and  churches,  and  even  the 
houses  to  live  in  and  to  do  business  in. 
Gas  and  water  works  had  to  be  estab- 
lished, all  taking  capital  to  do  so,  while 
all  building  material  had  to  be  brought 
from  a  distance. 

They  had  to  contribute  to  the  building 
of  telegraphs,  stage  lines  and  railroads, 
and  establish  all  the  industries  of  the 
State,  and  their  efforts  met  with  discour- 
agement or  were  unsuccessful.  In  many 
instances,  as  in  mining,  new  methods 
had  to  be  devised  and  put  into  opera- 
tion. Coal  was  brought  around  Cape 
Horn.  Hundreds  of  miles  of  streets  had 
to  be  graded,  sewered,  curbed,  paved 
and  sidewalked  in  the  cities  and  towns, 
which  themselves  had  to  be  created  and 
the  ground  to  be  graded  and  made  or- 
derly. 

Agriculture  was  comparatively  un- 
known, orchards  and  vineyards  had  to  be 
planted  as  an  experiment  as  to  soil  and 
climate,  tons  of  clippings  for  the  latter 
being  brought  from  Europe.  Land  was 
held  in  large  tracts.  In  many  instances 
the  most  desirable  parts  were  held  un- 
der Spanish  or  Mexican  grants,  and  was 
used  only  as  grazing  places  for  cattle 
and  horses,  with  a  few  sheep. 

State,  city,  town,  and  county  govern- 
ments had  to  be  established.  At  the  be- 
ginning the  State  was  under  military 
rule.  Irrigation  was  unknown.  Ditches 
had  to  be  made  to  carry  water  to  the 
mines,  mills  had  to  be  erected,  and  tun- 
nels run  to  the  mines.  The  flour  con- 
sumed had  to  be  brought  from  Chili  or 
some  far  distant  port.  In  1852  San  Fran- 
cisco was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  a  like 
fate  at  various  times  befell  many  of  the 


842 


Overland   Monthly. 


interior  towns,  while  Sacramento,  in  con- 
sequence of  floods,  was  compelled  twice 
to  raise  the  grade  of  her  streets  ten  feet. 
In  the  winter  of  1861-2  many  parts  of 
the  State  were  flooded,  doing  great  dam- 
age, especially  in  the  Sacramento  and 
San  Joaquin  valleys,  and  the  Legislature 
was  compelled  to  adjourn  to  San  Fran- 
cisco, while  in  1863  a  great  drought 
caused  many  thousands  of  cattle  to  die 
for  want  of  pasturage  and  water. 

In  1861  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  and 
the  State  was  compelled  to  meet  the  ad- 
ditional burden  of  fitting  out  five  or  six 
regiments  of  soldiers  and  maintaining 
them  during  the  war,  yet  neither  the 
State  nor  the  city  had  any  public  debt. 

Millionaires  were  unknown  in  those 
days,  the  bonanza  mines  on  the  Corn- 
stock  had  not  yet  yielded  their  millions. 
Many  men  became  poor  holding  on  to 
land  and  paying  taxes,  while  hoping  it 
would  improve  in  value,  and  the  result 
of  many  extensive  and  expensive  enter- 
prises were  still  undetermined.  Cali- 
fornia was  the  young  mother  of  the  States 
and  territories  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. She  was  the  first  admitted  into 
the  Union.  It  was  her  capital,  energy, 
and  people  that  discovered  and  first  de- 
veloped the  resources  and  industries  of 
those  States  and  territories. 

Under  such  circumstances,  here  partly 


set  forth,  the  burden  was  considered  to 
be  too  great  and  taxes  too  heavy  to  un- 
dertake to  establish  a  college  at  State 
expense,  until  the  National  government 
lent  its  aid  by  grants  of  land.  The  man 
who  attacks  the  intelligence  of  energy 
of  the  early  settlers  of  this  State  but 
manifests  his  ignorance  of  facts,  and 
attempts  to  pervert  truth.  The  exercise 
of  intelligent  energy  in  this  State  in 
those  days  was  so  universal  as  to  be 
looked  upon  as  a  matter  of  course. 

When  the  university  was  finally  set 
going,  the  brothers  John  and  Joseph  Le 
Conte  were  called  from  South  Carolina, 
and  were  made  professors,  the  former  of 
them  being  elected  President.  Profes- 
sors Durant  and  Kellogg,  both  former 
professors  of  the  College  of  California, 
were  also  made  professors.  This  latter 
fact  and  its  attendant  associations  may 
in  some  degree  account  for  the  exces- 
sively partial  statements  made  in  the 
published  history  of  the  University  as 
to  the  participation  of  these  latter  gentle- 
men in  its  origin,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  the  passage  of  the  bill  for  the 
establishment  of  a  State  college  was 
without  their  procurement  or  wish. 

In  conclusion  I  would  say:  All  honor 
to  William  Holden,  the  country  lawyer, 
the  father  of  the  University  of  Califor- 
nia. 


THE    INTERIM 


BY    HERMAN    SCHEFFAUER 

Veiled  with  thy  hair,  my  eyes  stray  o'er 
Thy  face.    Ah,  who  would  wish  thee  more? 
Still,  from  the  voiceless  void  of  Nought, 
Leaps  forth  unconquered  one  dread  thought; 
Leaps  like  a  flame  my  heart  to  sear — 
Listen,  my  love,  and  do  not  fear. 
O,  when  that  day  of  dread  is  due, 
When  part  we  must,  we  hapless  two; 
Remember!    all  the  time  that  flies 
When  drowned  with  earth  this  body  lies, 
Is  but  a  briefer  day  than  this, 
Far  briefer  than  our  briefest  kiss. 
Aeons  on  aeons  waste  away; 
And  what  to  us? — a  second's  stay, 
An  interlude  that  angels  play. 
The  Soul  may  live  by  Will  and  Strife, 
Since  Life  is  but  the  way  to  Life. 
What  hope  holds  the  Unknowable, 
Save  hope  that  I  with  thee  may  dwell? 
Heaven  with  thee,  without  thee  Hell. 
Awakened  by  strange  morning  light, 
Fair  in  our  faces  after  night, 
We  shall  arise  new  life  to  greet 
Like  travelers  from  distant  lands, 
With  lips  to  lips  and  hands  in  hands, 
When  Death  makes  Life  complete. 


e/ 


i°fc 


OJ 


98827 


